Judge convicts man accused of lewd acts

HORRY COUNTY, SC (WMBF) - A 54-year-old Nichols man arrested four times for sex crimes against a child has been convicted and sentenced to prison time.

In a police report filed in 2011, a 24-year-old victim entered the Horry County Police Department and told officers she had been sexually assaulted by Talmadge Leroy Rowell around the year 1991.

The victim said she had been too young and too scared to testify about the events at the time. When she saw Rowell had been arrested for similar crimes, she said she wanted to come forward to report her incident.

Rowell was convicted of two counts criminal sexual conduct with a minor and two counts of lewd acts upon a child on Nov. 5, 2013.

A judge sentence Rowell to fifteen years in prison.

Talmadge Rowell was a former Horry County Fire Rescue Volunteer Fire Chief.